Page 67 of The Ruler
A bitter laugh came from Magni. “Fuck no. She acts like she’s indulging us in our little fantasy that we have any power over her and that the moment she’s tired of pretending she’ll just get up and walk out. The question is: would you let her?”
“What, walk out?”
“Yeah.”
Khan took time before he answered. “I wish I knew a way to make her want to stay.”
“Like I said, you’re getting too attached and she’s going to rip your heart out. Take it from me; women are heartless creatures.”
Their conversation ended and eventually I drifted off to sleep drained by a deep sadness that I was causing another human being pain.
Maybe it was time for me to get up and walk out to find my inner balance again. More importantly, maybe Khan needed to regain his own balance.
CHAPTER 15
Rainbows
Khan
When Pearl and I returned to the Gray Manor she marched into my suite and went straight for the sofa. It was one-thirty in the morning and I was too tired to talk to her about anything.
Today when we woke up, she pretended like nothing had happened between us. I was mad at Finn for having unwillingly sabotaged my attempt to win back some of her good opinion yesterday and for playing with her on the way back here – if holding your breath could be called playing.
I watched her closely, trying to predict her next move, but Pearl was good at hiding her emotions and was back to being annoyingly polite with me.
When she spoke to her mother, Councilwoman Isobel, I watched from my office and their conversation left me suspicious and curious.
Apparently, her mother had a thing for rainbows because several times since Pearl arrived here, Isobel had asked her if she had seen any.
“Did you get a chance to look over the list of children we spoke about?” Pearl asked.
“I did,” Isobel said. “Here’s a list of twenty children that you can pick from. Four boys and sixteen girls.”
“Thank you.”
“Also, the name of the boy we spoke of is included on the list. Willow’s twin, remember?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“His name was Jeremy, but the Nmen rename their boys, I’ve heard.”
“Yes.” Pearl nodded. “They have a theme of great warriors, monarchs, generals, and rulers of the past. Khan is named after Genghis Khan and his brother is named Magni after a Norse god.”
“Wow, that’s something.” Isobel smiled. “Sure puts a bit of pressure on a young person, doesn’t it?”
“Anyway, Mom, I saw a pretty rainbow when we were away.”
Isobel stiffened and lowered her voice.
“A rainbow, you say?”
“Yes.”
Pearl was conducting the virtual reality call from our suite, and I could tell someone was disturbing her when she turned around and spoke.
“Oh, hi, Christina, I’m just speaking to Councilwoman Isobel, come in.”
I couldn’t see Christina, but I could hear her in the background. “I’m sorry for barging in; I’m just so excited to tell you the good news.”
